BASIC TALKS ~ Alex Brunt

1pm, 8/11/2019
The Hugh Lane Gallery

Basic Space is delighted to present Alex Brunt for our November BASIC TALK.

Alex Brunt lives and works in Belfast. Her artworks often depict visceral compositions of movement, sound and recordings of touch. She works across a range of media including spoken word, sound, text, ceramics, performance and photography, central themes explored through her practice are processes of fragmentation, female agency and touch. 

 Between 2014 until 2016 she studied on the MFA Fine Art programme at the BxNU Institute based in Newcastle upon Tyne. She was awarded the Baltic scholarship to pursue her MFA studies. This award was selected by Alessandro Vincentelli the curator of exhibitions & research at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts. From 2017 until 2019 she was on the board of directors at Platform Arts in Belfast. Her recent work ‘touch her hand, feel her voice’ explores a psychological portrait of resistance. The female voice is used to depict the presence of suffocation, removal and belonging. The piece consists of a poetic dialogue portraying the experience of women living in the occupied Palestinian territories and their experiences of the occupation. Additionally, another of her recent works, ‘as stems reach in silent rooms’ consists of a series of ceramic forms. The objects hold subtle traces of movement and touch; limb like forms. The artwork suggests the presence of growth and decay as a constant bodily movement. In 2019 she worked collaboratively with artist and filmmaker Inés Garcia to create ‘UMBRA’, a site-responsive installation in the central wing of Belfast’s Botanical Gardens Palm house. The piece examines the negative space of shadow and light from the surrounding plants, both obscuring the surrounding display and intensifying the experience of the plant’s movement and the acoustic qualities within the space. 

Recent exhibitions include the showcase of ‘UMBRA’ at Belfast Botanical Gardens Palm house, PS2 Gallery Belfast and Primary Gallery and Studios Nottingham. In 2018 she participated in a one-month long residency in Palestine at the A.M Qattan Foundation to develop a body of work as part of the 2018 Qalandiya International. ‘A Crossing For The Tongue’ in 2017 at SNETHA Gallery Athens and ‘TRICKSTER’ at Catalyst Arts in Belfast. 

 Link to Website: http://cargocollective.com/alexbrunt

BASIC TALKS is a series of talks with leading contemporary practitioners, taking place at The Hugh Lane on the second Friday of every month. Curated by Basic Space in partnership with The Hugh Lane, BASIC TALKS is a platform for lectures, workshops, presentations, and performances. Speakers include artists, curators, writers, and critics who will generate discourse on producing, framing and exhibiting art. BASIC TALKS is a collaboration between Basic Space and The Hugh Lane, exploring alternatives in the dissemination of contemporary art and its discourses.

Admission is free but spaces are limited to 50 so please arrive promptly to avoid disappointment.